It's not necessary, but you can absolutely use soap or detergent when pressure washing your house. Washing with a mixture of soap and water will ensure your siding is spotless when you're finished. However, in many cases it is not necessary to use soap and you can still achieve a powerful result without any product.
The answer is yes – you can power wash with just water! However, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind when doing this. In this blog post, we will discuss the pros and cons of power washing with water, and we will also give you some tips on how to do it correctly.
Dish soap or laundry soap mixed with warm water are efficient at cleaning your siding.
Wash the Vinyl Siding on Your Home
Create a solution using Dawn and warm water to gently clean siding that's covered in dirt, moss, or mold. Coat the siding with the mixture, let it soak, and then hose it off.
Dawn is used to clean animals after oil spills, so you shouldn't have any problems using it around the pets in your yard. It's mild enough that it's not going to damage or discolor your siding, says Jill, and it really cuts through the grime.
Use Pressure Washer Detergent
Soap and water is always a better cleaning combination than water alone. Better still is pressure washer detergent. Most pressure washers come with an injector to mix cleaning solutions right into the jet stream. Only use solvents that say "approved for pressure washer use" on the label.
General household cleaners such as Lysol are some of the most effective vinyl siding cleaners. They can used to clean tough stains and dirts including those that are caused by bubble gum, ink, crayon, rust, oil, grease, grass, or even soil.
Krud Kutter - House & Siding - Pressure Washer Concentrate
Krud Kutter – House & Siding – Pressure Washer Concentrate is an excellent solution for those seeking a reliable pressure washing detergent to clean their homes and siding.
Using a 5-gallon water bucket, mix water and a cleaning detergent with mildewcide according to manufacturer's recommendations. Attach your pressure washer to your garden hose. Choose the pressure washer nozzle you plan to use and attach it to your sprayer.
You don't have to use a detergent when power washing patio slabs, but you may find it breeds cleaner results when cleaning your decking or patio. Some manufacturers recommend specialist soap or detergent and the machines are fitted with a designated detergent chamber.
'Washing your clothes with only water may help you get rid of some surface dirt, but it will likely not be enough to wash out bacteria, odors, and stains, so it is not a cleaning tip I would recommend,' says Frej Lewenhaupt, textile expert, co-founder and CEO of Steamery.
If you don't have any specific skin concerns, then you really just need water and your favorite soap or body wash. “Water is excellent at washing off sweat and dust and the normal lint that we pick up around us every day, [while] soap is really good at pulling oils out of the skin,” Dr. Greiling says.
Thoroughly saturate the surface with Wet & Forget on a cool, dry day. Late in the day is best. Leave the growth to start decomposing for 2-3 weeks (the longer, the better) before painting or staining, gently pressure wash the surface.
1. How often should I clean vinyl siding? Even if your siding looks as clean as it did the day it was installed, it's best to give it a good wash every couple of years to prevent build-up and keep insects and spiders from building nests or webs in the nooks and crannies.
Cleaners recommended by the Vinyl Siding Institute for general cleaning include Fantastik and Murphy's Oil Soap.
Soft-washing techniques work best for cleaning your home's siding and roof. Pressure washers with soft-washing nozzles risk damaging siding, cracking roof tiles, and breaking glass windows. Soft-washing services, on the other hand, are entirely safe for all exterior home surfaces.
It is a super effective way to get rid of stains and mold. Pressure washing allows you to get to those hard to reach places. Cons: If pressure washing is done incorrectly, it can cause damage to your home.
To clean your siding without a pressure washer, you're going to need a brush, some TSP (trisodium phosphate--it can be found in most hardware stores), a bucket, a hose, water, a ladder, and plenty of elbow grease.
Vinegar Solution
All you'll have to do is mix vinegar, baking soda and water in a bucket and scrub onto your siding to get rid of light mold and mildew stains. Wear gloves to prevent your hands from drying out. Once done, your vinyl siding should look as good as new.
While it's tempting to pressure wash your siding to remove grime, the truth is that this cleaning technique is best used for decks and concrete. You don't always get the best results with power washing exterior siding, especially if you're trying to remove things such as mold.